(AGENPARL) – mer 30 ottobre 2024 Issued: Oct 30, 2024 (9:31am EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $80 Million in Clean Ports
Investments for the Port of Philadelphia as Part of Investing America Agenda
EPA’s Clean Ports Program to fund 55 zero-emission port equipment,
infrastructure, and planning projects across the nation to tackle climate
change, reduce air pollution, promote good jobs, and advance environmental
justice
PHILADELPHIA— On October 29, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s
Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced the that the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority has been selected
to receive nearly $80 million through EPA’s Clean Ports Program for the
deployment of zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure, and climate and
air quality planning.  
Climate and Air Quality Planning – $2,000,000: To identify availability of
terminal and near-terminal space, outline a strategy to power and deploy
zero-emission equipment; community and stakeholder engagement to ensure public
health; assess baseline emissions generated by terminal operations 
Zero Emission Technology – $77,650,965: For electric cargo handling equipment
and railcar mover, charging infrastructure, and electrical infrastructure
upgrades 
The grants are funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act — the
largest investment in combating climate change and promoting clean energy in
history— and will advance environmental justice by reducing diesel air
pollution from U.S. ports and surrounding communities while promoting
good-paying and union jobs that help America’s ports thrive. 
“Our nation’s ports are critical to creating opportunity here in America,
offering good-paying jobs, moving goods, and powering our economy,” said EPA
Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Today’s historic $3 billion investment
builds on President Biden’s vision of growing our economy while ensuring
America leads in globally competitive solutions of the future. Delivering
cleaner technologies and resources to U.S. ports will slash harmful air and
climate pollution while protecting people who work in and live nearby ports
communities.”   
“While our U.S. Ports are critical to the economy of the Mid-Atlantic region,
they also have a significant impact on our environment,” said Adam Ortiz, EPA
Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator. “This once-in-a-generation effort to
upgrade, modernize, and improve port equipment will have lasting positive
impacts on all those who live and work on the East Coast.” 
Ports are vital to the U.S. economy and are responsible for moving goods and
people throughout the country. At the same time, the port and freight
equipment responsible for moving goods including trucks, locomotives, marine
vessels, and cargo-handling equipment contribute to significant levels of
diesel air pollution at and near port facilities. This pollution is especially
harmful to nearby communities’ health and contributes to climate change. The
funds announced today will improve air quality at ports across the country by
installing clean, zero-emission freight and ferry technologies along with
associated infrastructure, eliminating more than 3 million metric tons of
carbon pollution, equivalent to 391,220 homes’ energy use for one year.  
“I was proud to vote for the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation
Reduction Act, a landmark clean-energy and health-care law, and this more than
$79 million in federal funding for our area is just the latest way it’s
benefiting Philadelphia and the region,” said Congressman Dwight Evans
(PA-03) 
“The Port of Philadelphia is a critical driver of good-paying jobs for our
region and a vital gateway for goods and passengers across the country,” said
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05). “I’m so pleased to see funding from
the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda continue to
flow into our region, helping clean up pollution at our ports and improving
air quality and public health in neighboring communities.” 
In February 2024, EPA announced two separate funding opportunities for U.S.
ports – a Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition to directly fund
zero-emission equipment and infrastructure to reduce mobile source emissions
and a Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition to fund climate and air
quality planning activities. The competitions closed in May 2024 with over $8
billion in requests from applicants across the country seeking to advance
next-generation, clean technologies at U.S. ports.  
After a thorough and rigorous grant application review process, EPA selected
55 applications to receive this historic investment. Applications to the Clean
Ports Program were evaluated in part on their workforce development efforts to
ensure that projects will expand access to high-quality jobs. Grant selections
also align with the Administration’s national goal for a zero-emission
freight sector, the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, and
the ‘all-of government’ National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor
Strategy.  
Selected projects cover a wide range of human operated and human maintained
equipment used at and around ports, with funds supporting the purchase of
battery-electric and hydrogen-powered equipment, including over 1,500 units of
cargo handling equipment, 1,000 drayage trucks, 10 locomotives, and 20
vessels, as well as shore power systems, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle
charging and fueling infrastructure, and solar power generation.  
Initial estimates of tailpipe reductions from this new equipment are estimated
to be over 3 million metric tons of CO2, 12 thousand short tons of NOx, and
200 short tons of PM2.5 in the first 10 years of operation.  These estimates
are based on initial counts of proposed zero-emission equipment and shore
power installations and do not consider benefits from retiring older vehicles,
among other factors. These simplified estimates were prepared using national
default emissions and activity factors and will be refined over time with more
detailed information from selectees. 
In addition to protecting human health and the environment, the program will
protect and grow good-paying and union port jobs, create new good-paying and
union jobs in the domestic clean energy sector, and enhance U.S. economic
competitiveness through the innovation, installation, maintenance, and
operation of zero-emissions equipment and infrastructure. The program’s
historic investment in zero-emission port technology will also help promote
and ensure the U.S. position as a global leader in clean technologies.  
EPA’s Clean Ports Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative,
which aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal
investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by
underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.  Disadvantaged communities
will benefit from cleaner air and access to high quality jobs that will be
created to operate zero emissions technologies at ports. 
EPA ensured that near-port community engagement and equity considerations were
at the forefront of the Clean Ports Program’s design, including evaluating
applications on the extent and quality of their projects’ community
engagement efforts. The program will also help to ensure that meaningful
community engagement and emissions reduction planning become a part of port
industry standard practices by building on the successes of EPA’s Ports
Initiative and the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act programs. These programs
have previously invested over $196 million to implement 207 diesel emissions
reduction projects at ports with an additional $88 million to multi-sector
projects that involve ports and have encouraged strong community-port
collaboration. 
The agency anticipates making awards once all legal, statutory, and
administrative requirements are satisfied. Selectees will work with EPA over
the coming months to finalize project plans before receiving final awards and
moving into the implementation phase. Project implementation will occur over
the next three to four years depending on the scope of each project. 
To learn more about the Clean Ports Program tentatively selected applications,
please visit the Clean Ports Program Selections webpage. 
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